Gay Vice Principal Sues Catholic School Claiming Wrongful Dismissal
Forced out of his Catholic school job for marrying his same-sex partner, a gay vice principal in suburban Seattle has filed a wrongful-dismissal suit against his former school
In December, the school fired Zmuda, saying he violated terms of his contract, which require adherence to Catholic Church teachings. The church forbids same-sex marriage, and court rulings have upheld religious institutions’ rights to hire and fire according to the tenets of their faith. SEATTLE (RNS) Forced out of his Catholic school job for... Continue Reading
Review: ‘Truth Matters: Confident Faith in a Confusing World’
Written primarily for high school and college students to fortify them with reasonable answers to questions of faith
The authors present Ehrman’s skeptical assertions, and then investigate his presuppositions, challenge his selective “facts,” and lay before the reader intelligent explanations as to why our belief in Jesus and trust of the Scripture is reasonable. Their purpose for taking this approach is not really about Bart Ehrman as much as it is about the... Continue Reading
Is North Carolina Discriminating Against Pro-Abortion Drivers?
North Carolina’s “Choose Life” license plate violates the U.S. Constitution because the state does not also offer pro-abortion plates
Central to the issue is whether the license plates represent private speech or government speech. If the latter, then they are not subject to the same “free speech” requirements as private speech, per the U.S Supreme Court. If the plates constitute private speech, however, then free-speech restrictions apply, meaning one viewpoint may not be given... Continue Reading
What Is The Proper Response To God’s Grace?
There can be only one proper response to grace: a life of grateful holiness.
“Grace must raise the temptation to think we can sin as we please; if it does not, we have not understood the true extent of grace. However, at no time can we yield to the temptation to think this way (note Paul’s answer to his question in 6:1—“by no means”), because Christians are called to... Continue Reading
On Works Of The Imagination
We deny that God can be known and rightly loved solely through cognition and the understanding of objective propositional statements about God.
“Today most people consider works of imagination as enjoyable distractions, but of little real significance. Even most Christians assume that their cognitive beliefs about God are important, but musical or poetic expressions about God have little purpose beyond making truth about God interesting, enjoyable, or exciting. This leads to the conclusion that what works of... Continue Reading
Study: Protestant Work Ethic Isn’t Just Protestant Anymore
America’s vaunted Protestant work ethic is getting a makeover: Now it might be more of an atheist work ethic.
“This could be because religion imposes opportunity costs in terms of time and resources that may otherwise have been devoted toward productive entrepreneurship,” they write. “For example, time spent in church reduces time available for engaging in business activity. More subjectively, religion may create psychic costs to pursuing worldly gains rather than salvation in the... Continue Reading
Non-Denominational Megapastor Stuns Congregation With Personal Revelation
A non-denominational megachurch pastor reportedly stunned his congregation this weekend when he announced that he and his wife are converting to Catholicism.
“While his Protestant views had previously led to critiques of the Catholic Church, the pastor said that, after studying the faith, he realized that many of those criticisms simply weren’t valid. The release emphasized that the conversion was the result of “a personal journey.” A non-denominational megachurch pastor reportedly stunned his congregation this weekend... Continue Reading
Crimean War
As Russia invades Crimea, Ukrainians strive to preserve their hard-won independence
“Kostya Farkovets, a 40-year-old Ukrainian who lives in the eastern city of Gorlovka with his wife and three boys, told me that life is “turning pretty lousy” in his town and in nearby Donetsk. “Some pro-Russian radicals have mounted the Russian flag on top of the governor’s building yesterday instead of Ukraine’s national flag. Here... Continue Reading
Homegrown Liberal Protestant
Growing up in a liberal protestant home, and in liberal protestant churches.
“To be a liberal Protestant, is often taken as a halfway house to atheism. Dan Fincke, an atheist philosopher argues that we’re “half way liberated” while one evangelical site calls us “closet atheists.” The picture (see link) is from Christmas 1977. I’m in the back row, second from the left under the candles. It’s... Continue Reading
‘Son Of God’ Veers Toward Gnostic Heresy
The movie’s portrayal of Jesus’ Last Supper with the disciples creates the impression that Jesus ordered Judas to betray him.
When Jesus identifies his betrayer in the movie, Judas resists. “I will not,” he says through gritted teeth to Jesus, who is holding a piece of bread to Judas’ mouth. “I will not betray you.” Jesus leans in closer and says, “do it quickly,” as he inserts the bread into Judas’ mouth. When Peter tries... Continue Reading